Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta cheese is the best.  Unless you’ve been using the kind at the grocery store.  Ugg.  Please stop using that immediately, and give this a try!  If you don’t like it, you can go back to the store bought kind, and I won’t say a word!  To me, the store bought brands tend to be watery and grainy.  Nothing like homemade ricotta.

When I was a kid, we used to drive up to Colorado to visit my grandparents and stop at a goat farm on the way to pick up fresh goat cheese ricotta.  Which is the bees knees.  It’s so good, creamy and tangy –  and amazing slathered on a slice of toasted bread with a layer of jam on top.  It’s equally delicious mixed with herbs, cheese, and eggs to make a cheese filling for lasagna and ravioli.

After my grandmother passed away, our visits to Colorado have been fewer.  So I make my own cow’s milk ricotta (that’s amazing in it’s own right), and it’s so simple to do.  I think it has all the amazing qualities of the goat’s milk ricotta, it’s just not as tangy.

I like to serve this banana bread topped with homemade ricotta and fresh strawberries (shown above), but I never say no to toast with jam and ricotta either!  Both make for an amazing breakfast.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese Adapted from Ina Garten

4 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar (I like to use Prosecco vinegar)

Place a large sieve across a large bowl, and line it with cheesecloth (that has been dampened with water) – make sure to cut enough cheesecloth to hang over the bowl (it needs to be able to cover the top of the cheese in the sieve).

In a medium size stainless steel pot, add the milk, heavy cream, and salt.  Stir together, and cook on medium heat on the stove.  Continue to stir occasionally, until the milk mixture comes to a full boil.  Then pour in the white wine vinegar and stir.  Continue to boil the mixture for about 1 minute.

The milk should separate making very tiny curds.  Pour the milk mixture through the cheesecloth (set over a large bowl).  Pour out the whey mixture that collects in the bottom of your bowl, as needed (so it doesn’t overflow).  Let the cheese drain at room temperature for about 30 – 45 minutes.  Then, if you prefer a thicker ricotta, cover the top of the cheese with the overhanging cheesecloth and store the bowl (with sieve) in the refrigerator overnight to allow the cheese to continue draining.  This is how I prefer mine!  The next day, unmold the cheese and pack in a covered container to store in the refrigerator.

If you prefer a wetter, runnier cheese, feel free to spoon the cheese out of the sieve anytime after 30 – 45 minutes (once it reaches your desired consistency) and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator.

It’ll last stored this way in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.  Makes about 2 cups.  Recipe doubles easily!